


Somnium

by WildKitte



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Atonement - Freeform, F/M, Fantasy, Forest God Ushijima, Forgiveness, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Non-Chronological, Strangers to Lovers, Witch Kiyoko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-28 03:22:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14440380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildKitte/pseuds/WildKitte
Summary: They often watched the stars together.”Do you know any constellations?” Kiyoko would ask and Wakatoshi shook his head.”I don’t watch the stars much,” he would say and Kiyoko would smile.No need to look up at the sky to see something just as beautiful.Fantasy Haikyuu Week Day 4 - Forest





	Somnium

**Author's Note:**

> My proofreading was quite superficial, so I might come back to fix stuff later. I'm just too impatient not to publish yet.  
> This is supposed to be for day 4, so it's a little late BUT I checked and it's still the 25th in Alaska so. Technically I'm on time.
> 
> Tried out a non-chronological narrative this time. I hope it's still comprehensible.
> 
> ALSO ALSO someone made a list of fic title tropes and one was "random latin" - it felt like a direct call-out to a latin nerd like me so obviously I had to give this an appropriate title.  
>  _Somnium_ \- dream, vision, fantasy

 

They often watched the stars together.

”Do you know any constellations?” Kiyoko would ask and Wakatoshi shook his head.

”I don’t watch the stars much,” he would say and Kiyoko would smile.

No need to look up at the sky to see something just as beautiful.

 

*

 

She had just moved in, when the deity of the forest knocked on her door.

”Oh, hello,” she said. The god stood there, unmoving – by gods, he was tall, just a big shadow on her doorstep. Kiyoko dusted her skirt quickly just in case, and then bowed.

”I was about to come visit, I am terribly sorry for not doing it earlier. I hope I’ll be allowed to live here and use your forest’s magic for my research… Sorry for the trouble.”

She looked up, and the god still just stood there.

”I hope I’m not… imposing,” she tried again, and then finally straightened back up. ”Would you… like to have tea?”

The god took a step backward and now Kiyoko was finally able to see him properly – he was quite intense-looking with his strong brows, sharp eyes and built figure. Handsome, maybe, if he stopped scowling for a second.

”No,” the god said simply, and then disappeared.

 

”Huh,” Kiyoko said to herself.

She looked up at the sky, where the sun was still pulsing light and warmth, and frowned.

”Maybe next time then,” she decided, and shut the door.

 

*

 

A week later, there was a knock on her door again.

”Hello again,” Kiyoko nodded at the god. He looked very official with his beautifully patterned yukata – flowers and tree branches – and a tasteful haori over it.

”If the offer for tea still stands,” the god said, and Kiyoko blinked at him. His voice was deep, and richer than she remembered. Soft, maybe.

”Ah, right,” she shook her head to clear it a little. ”The weather is nice. Does picnic sound good?”

The god merely nodded.

”Wait for a moment. I made honey cakes. I hope you’ll like them.”

Without waiting for an answer she disappeared in her house.

She was pleased to see the god still waiting outside, standing there awkwardly, and she smiled at him – it felt very natural.

 

”Ushijima. Wakatoshi. Is my name,” the god said.

”Kiyoko Shimizu, nice to meet you,” Kiyoko nodded in return.

”I knew that.”

Kiyoko reckoned he would.

”You can call me Wakatoshi.”

How casual. Interesting, she thought.

”Kiyoko is fine,” she said and then offered him another piece of honey cake. ”Another?”

”Thank you,” he said politely, and took the offered piece. It was kind of incredible how he hadn’t spilled any powdered sugar on himself. Kiyoko hoped she hadn’t either, but at least her white dress would camouflage it. Then again, he was a god – maybe effortless cleanliness just came with the title. ”The tea is good.”

”I’m glad,” she couldn’t help but smile. The bluntness of his was kind of endearing.

Once the cake and tea had been finished, they sat in silence on the picnic blanket, observing the nature. Kiyoko closed her eyes, listening to the birds singing, the buzzing of the bees, the familiar sound of nature all around her. She heightened her senses further – she felt the grass with her mind, feeling the earthworms slithering underneath, the bugs hiding in the grass, the faraway deer at the edge of the opening, watching them.

”That’s an interesting ability.”

Kiyoko opened one eye to look at Wakatoshi. He was looking at her with the ever-stern expression, but his eyes had a hint of curiosity twinkling in them.

”Just some witch tricks,” Kiyoko answered. ”I’m sure you have much more impressive magic than I do.”

”I do,” Wakatoshi admitted and Kiyoko bit back a laugh. So honest. ”But it doesn’t make your skill any less impressive.”

”Thank you.”

From the corner of her eye Kiyoko saw the deer she had felt earlier approach – except it was much bigger than she had first thought, and it moved with a certain grace that wasn’t entirely natural – but at the same time it was, like the animal was so in tune with its surroundings that it gave an unearthly feeling.

”I must go,” Wakatoshi said and stood up.

”I understand,” Kiyoko said, cleaning the plates and mugs in her basket. ”This was nice.”

Wakatoshi watched her in silence, nodded. The godly deer – for it was a divine spirit, Kiyoko could sense it now – walked up to the forest god and Wakatoshi ran his hand through its fur gently.

”Thank you for your hospitality,” he said. ”You’re allowed to use the forest’s offerings. For your magic.”

Kiyoko smiled up at him in gratitude. Wakatoshi looked her straight in the eye and it was intense, but also somehow safe, and then – then the corner of Wakatoshi’s mouth pulled up and he offered her a kind of a half smile that made her heart beat faster.

”See you again,” he said, and left, and Kiyoko was left sitting on the blanket, heart heartbeat still racing in her ears.

*

He had become very fond of her.

He didn’t usually care about them – people, humans, mortals, the like. When they left his forest alone he tolerated them; if they disturbed its peace he made sure they paid for it fairly. This forest was special, this forest was his – the tall and thick trees with leaves deep green, roots pulsing with life; insects and spiders buzzing in the underbush; the animals, preys and beasts alike in natural harmony – eat, be eaten, return back to earth and spring back once again. And his little spirits, that grabbed at his robes like attention-seeking little children, his spirits that he held and nurtured and then let out to the wild, to become one with the trees, to be one with all the living creatures of the forest. This was all his, and he loved everything dearly, every single little berry and gigantic tree.

So when a witch decided to move in his forest, put her hut up to the secluded field in the middle of his kingdom, he was more than a little miffed.

He was supposed to drive the witch away. Witches were not people nor spirits – they were humans ruined with magic, carrying angry spirits and deep scars wherever they went; they were leeches, parasites.

 

It was hard to believe Kiyoko Shimizu was one of them.

She, with her bright and beautiful smiles, her soft magic and refreshing presence, was nothing like the witches Wakatoshi had encountered, fought and driven away before.

She baked delicious cakes and made perfect tea.

Wakatoshi refused to admit he was bewitched, but as her smiles seemed to pull him further in and time after time he found himself going back to the field, finding her already waiting for him… It felt something like magic.

 

*

 

Mornings after full moons were the hardest.

Wakatoshi stayed by her bedside, wiping her forehead with a damp cloth, cleaning and dressing her wounds.

”I’m sorry,” she said, and he said nothing, because there was nothing to forgive. She was sweating, and winced once in a while as Wakatoshi moved to another wound, healing the deep gashes in her arms and legs shut, leaving behind only scars and an ache that he could not help nor ease.

”I made us tea,” he said softly, and somehow Kiyoko managed to smile.

”You make it best.”

_That’s not true_ , he thought, but only kissed her forehead gently. ”I’ll be right back.”

 

He propped her up to sit and then handed her the tea cup.

”Careful,” he said, knowing it might burn her hands, but she shook her head.

”It’s fine.”

Wakatoshi watched as she drank, and it was warm, his chest, his soul pulsing with life.

”If only I could take it away from you,” he found himself saying out loud. How often he thought this, how many moons had passed with him yearning to help her, unable to do anything.

”It’s alright,” Kiyoko answered, and her eyes were warm. ”I’m glad you’re here.”

”Where else would I be?”

Kiyoko laughed, the sweetest pearly sound, and the tight, painful knot in Wakatoshi’s chest eased a little – she was coming back to him, little by little.

”I don’t know. I’m not a god.”

_You could be. You could become mine and rule with me, gracing my days with your presence._

He would not ask her.

That was not his place.

 

He helped her back to bed, switching the cloth on her forehead to a new one, and kept watch as she slept.

Before the sun set, he could hear his spirits calling for him. Setting up a few spells, he left the hut and stepped into the vaning sunlight, flowers around him closing into sleep and the cool breeze of the wind promising change of season.

Tonight, Kiyoko would be safe and Wakatoshi hoped she would sleep soundly until morning.

 

”I’m coming,” he said to the ghost-like figure waiting for him by the treeline, sensing its impatience.

Every time he left, it felt harder to go.

 

*

 

”I found a friend of yours,” Kiyoko said as he sat down on the picnic blanket. It was becoming somewhat of a habit – meeting every week or so for picnic, tea and some pastries.

Wakatoshi glanced at the translucent little spirit with long ears sitting on her lap. He reached towards the spirit, and it came to life with a shiver, glittering in the sunlight as it wrapped itself around Wakatoshi’s fingers and then dived in his sleeve, coming up at his collar, and Wakatoshi laughed, picking the spirit from his neck.

”I was looking for them,” he said and then cradled the spirit in his arms, a soft smile lingering on his lips still. Kiyoko tilted her head and took the sight in, the forest god speaking to the tiny spirit with a soft voice, cooing at it like a father to a child. It was like watching ice thaw, spring pushing through layers of snow.

”You’re very kind, aren’t you?”

Wakatoshi froze for a second and then looked at her, the dark green of his eyes reminiscent of ancient forests, and Kiyoko felt something like a surge of raw power run down her spine.

”They are mine,” he said, his voice soothing, his hands caressing the spirit on his lap. ”I have to take care of them.”

But just how far ran responsibility, and when did it change into devotion; what was the line between his duty and truly loving every single creature of the forest?

”It’s not just that,” Kiyoko said and felt a smile climb on her face, involuntary but not unwelcome.

Wakatoshi blinked, waiting for her to continue.

”You like my bakings too.”

Kiyoko didn’t think she had seen Wakatoshi really smile at her before, but she wanted him to do it again.

 

*

 

She was a cursed being.

She had been too curious, too careless to take care of herself and her student.

There was something unforgivable in having to bury your beloved when you were supposed to protect them from harm.

She was cursed, haunted by the shadows she herself had dragged from the underworld. She had no one but herself to blame. As they tore at her body in the darkness, she let them; it was atonement, it was her punishment. It was nothing compared to the agony of losing Hitoka, it was only fit that she would suffer for her mistakes.

Perhaps running away from her past was cowardly – not that she could run away from the image of Hitoka screaming for her in her dreams, holding her body in her arms and crying her throat sore trying to bring her back. When she woke up bleeding, the shadows slinking back to the other side as the sunrise shine slithered in through the window, the sheets sticky and stained, there were no tears left. Even here, in this sacred forest, her past kept clinging to her like tar and feathers.

 

When Wakatoshi came into her life it was like light had entered her soul again; being purified. She found there was still some warmth left in her heart, and even if it was only for his sake, she tried to fight the beings tearing her body and mind apart at night.

She could smile freely again.

Kiyoko leaned in Wakatoshi’s touch, as he cradled her face with care, and she let him kiss her, his lips soft and so tender, and her damaged heart was beating again. Surely she didn’t deserve this – surely there was a catch here. She was too greedy to let go now.

He had been so awkward at first – she knew now it was just how he was, honest to a fault as his kind often were, and she loved his awkwardness. She loved all this, his diligence and sense of duty, she loved his justice and his forgiveness; Wakatoshi was fair, and he had so much love to give. It pulsed in the veins of the forest, in every single spirit and tree and plant, she could taste it in the herbs and berries, she could feel it in the flow of the water – she could feel it healing her magic, coaxing the darkness out of her with his presence.

She kept waiting for punishment, but found amnesty instead.

 

*

 

Despite his power, despite the size of his body, he was gentle.

Kiyoko ran her fingers gently on his cheek, and then to his nape, sliding them in the short hair and as Wakatoshi moaned in her mouth it felt like she had found purpose. His hands held onto her waist and pulled her closer, her hips grinding into his and it was so warm this close to him, skin to skin. Her hair curtained over his shoulder as she rose up and down with the rhythm, drawing him in, Wakatoshi’s fingers tugging at her hair, lips mouthing at her neck like a promise.

Guiding him to her bed was simple; it was like a miracle to wake up next to him in the morning and find her body unharmed.

*

”I brought berries,” Wakatoshi said. ”I don’t know how to make pies.”

Kiyoko laughed out loud, covering her mouth with a trembling hand.

”Would you like to learn?” she asked and rejoiced in the way Wakatoshi’s cheeks flushed – almighty forest god blushing at her doorstep, what a sight.

Wakatoshi nodded, and Kiyoko let him in her hut.

He closed the door, and the sun outside kept pulsing light, and warmth.

 

 

_fin_

**Author's Note:**

> Leave kudos and a comment if you like!
> 
> twitter [@wildkitte](https://twitter.com/wildkitte)  
> tumblr [@wildkittewrites](http://wildkittewrites.tumblr.com/)


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